Sunday, March 17, 2013

Carnival Skirt Progress

I know, I know...it's been well over a month since my last post entry, not to mention I'm EXTREMELY late with my "Carnival of Skirts" submissions, but I recently read something on an email message that best sums up my defense...


Please be patient with reply…life is happening.


Although it appears the official "Carnival of Skirts 2012" blog is closed, my plan is to complete my submissions.  With that said, I was able to put in work on my first skirt today.  But, before I detail today's progress, I would like to share construction details for the work I've already completed.



I'm making Butterick 5566 View B for my first skirt and I'm using a black crinkle bottom-weight fabric I purchased many, many years ago and left-over faux leather I used to make my daughter's homecoming outfit in 2010.


The original pattern design has a somewhat plain skirt back, but I really liked the idea of continuing the faux leather contrast to the back, so I modified the pattern to include the contrast back yoke.

Original pattern design

My redesigned back

The faux leather has a knit backing and I was concerned that it would "run" if too much stress were placed on it, as illustrated below.



So, I underlined each section of the skirt's yoke with a cotton broadcloth I had in my stash, thus giving it more stability.  I then treated each underlined piece as a single layer of fabric during construction.

 

Today, I top-stitched the side seams to maintain design detail with that of the yoke front.



I struggled a little with figuring out the best zipper insertion method to use.  The pattern called for the zipper to be centered on the skirt back, but I was concerned with needle holes appearing on the faux leather from the basting stitch, so I decided to use a lapped-zipper technique.


The original pattern design calls for the skirt to be unlined, but I prefer including linings whenever possible.  So, I constructed the skirt lining using the skirt pieces for View A, and I decided to also include an interfaced skirt facing - a technique I learned while making Vogue 2607 for my friend, Vickie.  The lining is "sandwiched" between the skirt and inside facing. 


Once sewn together, I understitched the lining and facing so they will stay in place inside the skirt.


So, here's how it looks so far...






The skirt still needs to be hemmed, and I will have to "play" with the lining/facing and zipper opening to figure out the best way to attach them - turns out, without a true "waistband", using a lapped zipper may not have been the best method to employ.  Oh well...what's done is done.



Be blessed!


Aisha

2 comments:

  1. I'm wondering where you bought your faux leather (an online site, store...) because I had purchased the same faux leather for a project and realized I did not have enough but the store had stopped selling it when I went back to purchase more.

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    1. Hi Monica,

      I bought the faux leather from JoAnn's about 4 years. It was on display with their Halloween fabric, so chances are you'd be able to get some now. Good luck with your search and thank you so much for reading and commenting.

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